Comics - Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere

Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry

The presence of Neil Gaiman’s name is going to have an army of vaguely gothic comic geeks turning out in their droves to buy it. Even if his writing doesn’t actually appear therein.

This is an adapted version of Sandman scribe Gaiman’s novel and television series Neverwhere, although, fortunately, the quality of those involved blows away any air of a cash-in. Mike Carey is something of a rising star as a comic writer - he’s worked his way up from 2000AD to Vertigo’s Lucifer and now regularly works for Marvel, while Glenn Fabry is an exceptional painted artist.

So their version of Gaiman’s dark but fantastical tale of a hidden ‘London Below’, as discovered by working stiff Richard Mayhew, is sharply written and vividly illustrated, balancing adult themes and a fairytale setting. Hopefully, though, any future spin on this particular setting will be handled with equal respect.